Indonesia is home to the world's third largest tropical rainforest and contains 10 percent of global forest cover. This important natural resource has enabled Indonesia to become a key timber supplier for the legal world market. However, growing demand, falling supply and inadequate law enforcement and management have led to Indonesia also becoming a major source for illegally produced and exported timber.

Inadequate law enforcement continues to increase Indonesia's vulnerability to forest crimes. Arrests of perpetrators have been carried out from time to time, but only a very small percentage of illegal logging cases have been effectively prosecuted. Although Indonesia's forest law stipulates a penalty of up to 15 years in jail for buying, selling, or receiving illegal timber, offenders are more likely to receive light jail sentences or small fines.

The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry estimates that in recent years Indonesia has been losing 1.6-2.8 million hectares annually (equivalent to 3-5 hectares a minute) to illegal logging and land conversion due to a lack of effective management and law enforcement. This in turn has been contributing majorly to the greenhouse gas emissions affecting global climate change.

Indonesia today is committed to implement a new regime to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), and is preparing for a fair, equitable and transparent REDD+ architecture.

However, there are several risks and uncertainties that could undermine the REDD national response, such as corruption, fraud, crime and weak law enforcement response.

UNODC in Indonesia is responding in several ways to assist Indonesia in preserving its forests. Below we have listed resource material on our work to protect the lungs of the world

This project is working to identify possible challenges that the REDD programme may encounter in ensuring sustainable forest and law enforcement governance (FLEG). The successful implementation of REDD in Indonesia is threatened by numerous obstacles including the risks of corruption/fraud and the weak response of law enforcement agencies to the new responsibilities deriving from the REDD programme. Hence this project will assess the feasibility of REDD vis-à-vis corruption and law enforcement through two studies that will highlight the main challenges and will recommend policy and regulatory solutions to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of support through the REDD programme.

This is a project to counter illegal logging and the illicit trade in forest products in Indonesia by strengthening the country's law enforcement and anti corruption capacities. More specifically the project seeks to strengthen the Special Responsive Police Forest Task Force (SPORC), improve the capacity of prosecutors and judges, and support civil society's response to illegal logging and corruption.

The project also seeks to counter the enabling environment that corruption provides to illegal logging in Indonesia by strengthening the capacity of Indonesia's anti-corruption agencies and law officials to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate corruption cases linked to forest crimes. Use of the anti money laundering regime to target the kingpins behind forest crimes will be a key output. Papua province is the primary location of this project.

The project seeks to counter illegal logging and the illicit trade in forest products in the South-East Asia region by strengthening regional cooperation between law enforcement agencies of ASEAN Member States, building the capacity of forestry and law enforcement agencies in Member States and harmonising policies and regulatory frameworks across the region. UNODC will support to a large extent the work plan for Strengthening Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) in ASEAN, 2008-2015 developed by in the ASOF Meeting in July 2008. This project is not funded yet.